John beelee



(No Model.)

J. BBELER.

UNDERGROUND GONDUIT.

No. 339,844. Patented Apr. 13, 1886.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN BEELER, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO ELIJAHCOOMBE, OF SAME PLACE.

UNDERGROUND CONDUIT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 339,844, dated April13, 1886.

Application filed September-12, 1885. Serial No. 176,571. (No model.)

- T aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN BEELER. a citizen of the United States,residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in UndergroundConduits for Tele graphs, Telephones, &e., of which the followingis aspecification, relercnce being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to those underground conduits which arecmployedforcarrying electrical wires through streets provided with curbstones;and the first part of my improvements comprisesa novel arrangement oftube 1 and handholes, whereby the original expense of laying suchconduits is materially reduced, and at the same time the most convenientaccess is afforded to the tube, either for inspection or inserting thevarious wires. The tube or conduit proper is laid immediately outside ofthe curbstones, where the street-gutters are usually located, andisprovided with a system ofinternal pulleys and endless chains or wireropes wherewith the electrical wires are drawn through said tube, thepulleysbeingjournaled in the conduit at or near the hand-holes made inthe inner side of the same. Access is had to these hand-holes throughboxes placed at suitable intervals in line with the curbstoncs, saidboxes being provided either with hinged or detachable covers or lids,the removal of which latter enables the pulleys to be set in motion forthe purpose of operating the endless chain or other conveyer, ashereinafter more fully described.

Another feature of my invention consistsin concaving the upper side ofthe tube, so as to render it available for a gutter, as hereinafter morefully described.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a section ofmy improved conduit, the lid of one of the hand-hole boxes beingdetached. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of said conduit, the centralportion thereof being broken away. Fig. 3 is an enlarged transversesection of the same,taken in the plane of one of thehandholes, adriving-machine being shown applied to the box of said hole for thepurpose of drawing a wire through the tube.

Fig. 4 is an elevation showing the manner'of 5o attaching the hand-holeboxes to the tube or conduit. Fig. 5 is a modification of the invcntion.

A represents the tube or conduit proper,v which may be made of anysuitable size, shape, and material, altl'iough cast-iron is preferred.Said tube is made in sections of any length that can be convenientlyhandled, and at proper intervals hand-holes B are formed in the innersides of some of said sections. These hand'holes atford access to theinterior of the tube and permit the application of a pair of groovedwheels, pulleys, or rollers, G O, that support an endless conveyer, D.This conveyer may be a wire rope or a chaiu,or other 65,

instrumentality capable of being set in motion by the drivingpulleys.Each hand-hole is provided with a box, E, having a flange, F, wherewithit is securelyfastcned to the side of one of the sections A, as moreclearly 7o seen in Fig. 4, said boxes being open to top and furnishedwith hinged 0r detachable lids or covers G, as represented in Fig. 1. Itis preferred to rest these lids on flanges or lugs H, projectinginwardly from each box and near the top of the same, because suchflanges can be used for supporting a portable machine, I, capable ofreadyinsertion in the mouth of said boxes, as seen in Fig. 3. Thismachine includes a system of bevel-gears, J, for operat- 8o ing avertical shaft, K, having atits lower end a wheel, L, that engages witha pinion, M, on the shaft of the upper pulley, C. It is preferred toconcave the upper side of the tube,

as at N, and to slope the liooror bottom of the same, so as to shedwater toward the neck 0, which latter may communicate with a sewer,drain-pipe, or other outlet.

In constructing my conduit the tube Ais laidimmediately outside of thecurbstones, but so as to be in contact therewith, as seen in Fig. 1, inorder that the concavity N of said tube may serve forthe gutterof thestreet.

At suitable intervals-say every two hundred feet or soa section is laidhaving a hand hole B therein, and as these openings are made in theinner side of the tube it is evident the boxes E for said holes must bein serted in line with-the curbstones of the street. The curbstones areaccordingly removed where these boxes are located, and as the latter areflush with'the former'the sidewalk is not obstructed, neither is thereanydanger of a person tripping on the lids of said boxes, which lattermay he ribbed, corrugated, or otherwise roughened to afford asecurefoothold in the winter season. Furthermore, as the upper surface of thetube is flush with the roadway, it is evident the conduit can be canried across intersecting streets without adopting special expedients forthat purpose. While the line is being built, the conveyer D can beinserted therein, being passed over the pulleys C O, in the manner seenin Fig. 1, and after the conduit is finished the ends of this con veyerare joined together, so as to render it continuous. When an electricalwire is to be inserted in the conduit, a cap of one of the boxes E isremoved, and the portable machine I is applied to the upper end of saidbox, thereby causing the bevel-wheel L of said machine to gear withpinion M of pulley G. The electrical wire being now fastened to theconveyer D, and the machine I set in motion, by properly turning thecrank of the same said conveyer is caused to traverse the tube and dragthe wire through it. When the advancing end of the wire arrives at itsdestination, it can be detached from the conveyer and car ried outthrough the opening P, made in the inner side of the tube. These wiresare seen at S in Fig. 3. These openings (seen in Figs. 2 and 5) may becast in each section of the tube, so as to prevent any subsequentdrilling operation after the conduit has been laid, and as said sectionsare comparatively short two or three of such openings will occur infront of each building,thereby'affording ample connections for allhouses on the line. If the wires should become entangled, or theconveyer slip off the pulleys, it will be an easy matter to reachthrough the box E and handhole B andrestore things to their properposition.

In Figsfl' and 3 thet-op of the tube is shown as being flush with thelevel of the street; but in Fig. "5 said tube is wholly underground andis covered by a gutter-stone, R. Finally, alg though it is preferred tomake the tube of cast or malleable iron, the invention is notlimited tosuch material, as it is evident said tube may be composed of concrete orgranolithic, &c.

I claim as my invention 1. In an underground conduit, the combination,with a tube locatedin the gutter of the street, the inner side of saidtube being provided with hand-holes, of covered boxes located atsuitableintervals in the curb and afl'ording access to the interior of the tubethrough the hand-holes, substantially as set forth.

2. In an underground conduit, the combination, with a tube located inthe gutter of the street, the inner side of said tube being providedwith hand-holes, of covered boxes located at suitable intervals in thecurb and affording access to the interior of the tube through thehand-holes, the upper surface of said tube being concaved, for thepurpose stated.

3. The combination, in an electrical underground conduit, of tube A,hand-hole B, pul

leys O O, and covered boxes E G, the shaft of said pulleys beingjournaled transversely of the lower portion of said boxes, and one ofsaid shafts being provided with a bevel-wheel, M, that gears with asimilar wheel, L of a portable machine that is temporarily fitted in theupper end of one of the open boxes E, for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

. JOHN BEELER.

Witnesses:

JAMES H. LAYMAN,

SAML. S Oaarnn'rna.

